THE BEE LOUSE MINOK INSECT ENEMIES. 115 



the wax-motli lar\ a- make little lieadway, and it is tln/ieloie only tlie 

 neglected Lives tliat are seriously troubled. Motli-trap attachments 

 or niotli-i)root' liives are therefore of no use. iiidess, in the case of the 

 ioriner, larva' seekin<>- a secure place in which lo i>upate may be cau;iht: 

 but that implies fre(pient examination, and the same or less attention 

 to the colony itself will suffice to do away with almost any breedin*^ of 

 moths. Hives i)roof against the entrance of wax-moth larva' would, 

 as the statements here made regarding the breeding habits of the 

 moth indicate, exclude the bees also. From the foregoing it can be 

 readily seen that the attentive apiarist no longer regards the wax moth 

 as a serious pest. 



HKAILA OK '-BEE LOUSE." 



A wingless dipteron, liraida ccvca Xitsch, known under the common 

 name of '-bee louse,'* is a trcniblesome parasite on bees in ^Mediterranean 

 countries, the adults, which are very large in i)roportion to the host, 

 gathering on the thoraces of the workers, rarely of the drones, but in 

 great numbers on the (pieens. The writer has removed seventy- five at 

 one time from a (pieen, though ordinarily the numbers do not exceed a 

 dozen. When numerous they render the queen weak by the removal 

 of vital fluids. The insect has frequently been imported to this country 

 on queens Avith attendant bees, but thus far has probably gained no 

 foothold. Likely it will never do so in the Noith, but the case might 

 be different in any region resembling southern P^urope in climate, and 

 it is by all means advisable to remove every one from any queen or 

 worker arriving here infested with them. 



OTHEK ENE:\riES. 



Rohher flics, dragon flies, etc. — Several species of Asilu.s and related 

 predaceous Diptera do not live upon injurious insects alone, but also 

 capture and devour honey bees. They are nu)re destructive in the 

 South than elsewhere. Tiie same is true of the neuropterous insects 

 known as mosquito hawks, dragon flies, or devil's darning needles. 

 There seems to be no remedy for any of these except that of frighten- 

 ing them away when noticed about the apiary. The ''stinging bugs," 

 belonging in the hemipterous family Pliynnitid;e, often capture and 

 destroy workers as they visit the flowers, ^o remedy is ])racticable. 



Aufs and ivasjhs. — Some of the larger ants and social wasps are very 

 troublesome to the ai)iarist in tropical and even in subtropical regions. 

 They seize the workers and cut them in pieces with their powerful jaws. 

 Having once reduced the hive defenders, they even make bold to enter 

 and carry ott' the queen as well as help themselves to lioney. Trapi)ing 

 them with honey or with meat and killing them, as well as destroying 

 the nests when found, are the only remedies. The i)a])er lu^sts are 

 easilj' burned away, while an effectual remedy against ants is to open 

 the hill and ])ourin an ounce or two ol' bisnlphule of (';irb«»n. 



